Wayne Rainey - Racing History

Racing History

Rainey began his career racing in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship, a series that encompassed four distinct dirt track disciplines plus road races. In 1981, he finished the Grand National season as the 15th ranked dirt track racer in the country. Following his success in the Novice 250cc roadrace class, Kawasaki hired him to compete in the 1982 AMA Superbike Championship as a teammate to the then defending National Champion Eddie Lawson. The following year, Lawson moved to the Grand Prix circuit and Rainey took over the role of leading rider, earning the 1983 National Championship for Kawasaki.

In 1984, he accepted an offer to ride for the newly formed Kenny Roberts Yamaha squad in the 250cc class of the Grand Prix World Championship. A less than successful season (1 podium and difficulty push-starting the bike) saw him returning home in 1985 to join the Maclean Racing team in U.S. 250 and Formula 1 classes, and then on to the American Honda team from 1986 to 1987 where he raced Superbike and F1. It was during the 1987 Superbike National Championship that his intense rivalry began with Kevin Schwantz as the two battled it out for the title. Rainey won the Championship, but the fierce rivalry between the two competitors was just beginning. So intense was their rivalry that they continued their battle during the 1987 Trans-Atlantic Match Races in which they were supposedly teammates competing against a team of British riders.

In 1988 Rainey returned to Europe, again joining Team Roberts Yamaha, this time in the premier 500cc division riding the YZR500. His arch-rival Schwantz followed him to Europe, signing to race the 500cc class for Team Suzuki. The two would continue their rivalry on race tracks all across Europe, driving each other to higher levels of competitiveness. In 1988, Rainey and his Team Roberts Yamaha teammate Kevin Magee would also win the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race in Japan. In the 1989 campaign, Rainey would finish second overall. From 1990 to 1992, Rainey hit his stride earning three consecutive 500cc crowns for Yamaha. Rainey was well on his way to his fourth-consecutive title in 1993. He was leading the championship points and leading the GP when he suffered his career-ending crash at the Italian Grand Prix in Misano. He slid into the gravel trap at high speed, breaking his spine against the raked surface designed as a safety feature for car racing. The injury handed the title over to his great rival, Schwantz. Rainey's injuries would render him permanently paralyzed from the chest down.

After turning to Williams team owner and quadriplegic Frank Williams for advice, Rainey later became the team manager for Marlboro Yamaha for a few years. After the 1995 season, Schwantz retired from the Grand Prix circus, partly due to nagging injuries and partly because losing the one great rival that had fired his competitive intensity made him view his own mortality much more clearly.

Rainey has refused to give up racing despite his disability and now races a hand-controlled Superkart in the World SuperKart series based in Northern California. He lives in Monterey, California in a house which was built overlooking the Laguna Seca circuit shortly before his career ending accident. The nearby circuit has named a corner in his honor, the Rainey Curve, a medium-speed, acute left-hander that follows the famous Corkscrew. Rainey was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. the FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007.

In 2003, he was one of the subjects of the motorcycle racing documentary film, Faster.